


Firebright

by Lyrecho



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Gift Fic, Jealousy, Light Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, Multi, Oneshot, Valentia Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 09:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17444714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Lyrecho
Summary: Invited to a ball held in Zofia Castle, Mae deals with her feelings and has her feelings dealt with in turn. For the 2018 Valentia Gift Exchange.|Tumblr||Twitter|





	Firebright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarlightGale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightGale/gifts).



> god I am posting this publically so late skljlkdfhgh

The fire had burned down to embers when Mae heard door open behind her.

For a moment, she tensed, sure she was about to get yelled at for being in a place she shouldn't - but then it was Boey, quietly slipping into the room and closing the door behind him, so she relaxed, and returned her pensive gaze to the fire.

"Didn't expect to find you brooding in here, Mae," Boey said, and made his way over to slide down so he was sitting beside her.

"I didn't expect anyone to find me in here at all," she grumbled. "I figured the King's study was the last place that would make any sense to look for me in."

"It is," Boey agreed. "That's why I came to look for you here first."

"W-well..." Mae sputtered. "That's different. You know me too well."

"Maybe so," Boey said. "But...the person I'm fairly sure you're trying to avoid knows you just as well as I do."

Mae felt her shoulders hunch up to her ears as she buried her face in her knees. "Is it that obvious?"

"Probably not to just any onlooker," Boey said. "But I remember how excited you were to be invited here...and how tense and unhappy you got as the date loomed closer, to say nothing of behaviour since we arrived."

Mae scowled. She knew she was being petty, she really did, but - after the war, Celica hadn't come home to Novis. She hadn't been able to, and Mae had never, could never and would never blame her for that. Sure, she missed her...but she thought she'd gotten over being so petty about her feelings on the matter.

Apparently not. Arriving here, seeing Celica cloaked in a gown as white as snow and starkissed with diamonds as a cold winter's night, gilt of gold burnishing her throat and fingers and her hair shining like molten bronze in the light of a hundred chandeliers...those feelings of admiration, love and longing, had welled up inside her once more where she'd thought she'd gotten a handle on them.

And then Alm had appeared at her side, dipped her into a twirl, and while Mae had been too far away to hear Celica's laugh, she'd seen the pure unbridled joy painting her face. King and Queen; Emperor and Empress. Two branded children that had always belonged together, and there was no room for Mae. No room for her messy, unwanted feelings.

She didn't hate Alm - liked him, even - but that didn't stop the sensation of being usurped, of being replaced; of being a stopgap love until Celica found her way back into his arms again.

Boey watched her like he could see exactly what she was thinking, and gestured to his side. "Here, Mae," he said softly, and with a telltale burn in her eyes she fell into his arms, seeking comfort.

"I know I'm being stupid," she whispered. "Stupid and unfair."

Boey let out a considering hum. It rumbled in his chest, and she felt the vibrations travel through her. It was...reassuring. "I don't think you're being either of those things, except maybe to yourself." A pause. "And, okay, to Celica, a bit. I really think you should just sit down and tell her all these things that have got you worried.

"She'll laugh at me," Mae mumbled. "Or she'll get upset, because I'm being stupid."

"Apparently we've gone far too long in Novis without visiting the mainland, because you and I both know Celica would never do any such thing."

"Alm will get upset, then, and Celica will get upset over that."

"Well, that is more plausible," Boey said, "if not for that fact that I do not believe Alm would get upset at all, either." He looked down at her. "We don't know him very well, true, but Celica wouldn't love him if he was the type to get upset for you loving her...or her loving you."

Mae let out a groan, a frustrated sound that defied words, and resisted the urge to flail her limbs about in a childish expression of her confliction emotions.

A moment later, a knock came on the door, and Mae was glad she had kept her cool, even as she jumped a bit in surprise as the door slowly opened to reveal a sheepish Alm.

"Your Majesty - !" Boey yelped, and jerked to his feet to duck into a bow. Normally, Mae would find this funny, but she still felt upset, unreasonably so at Alm, and maybe slightly nervous about the fact that this was, after all, his private study. They were almost definitely not meant to be in here.

Alm laughed. "It's fine, Boey," he said. "You can just call me Alm." He sent a curious look Mae's way, where she was still on the floor, and she bit back the urge to scowl at him. "So, this is where the two of you disappeared to...Celica's been looking for you, you know. She was looking forward to seeing you both again, and she was disappointed when you vanished from the ballroom." He tilted his head, as if in thought. "Tobin said you'd probably gone to make out somewhere fancy, and I'm incredibly glad I didn't walk in on that."

Mae choked, and Boey made a sound like he was dying.

Alm grinned. "Just a joke, guys," he said. "Just a little joke."

"Ah..." Boey blinked. "...Right," he said faintly. Mae couldn't blame him. Neither of them were super used to being around royalty - Celica didn't count.

"You don't have to be so nervous around me, you know," Alm said, and tilted his head. "I don't bite. Hell, I'd put good money on Celica being a lot scarier than me."

Mae remembered well the look on his face when he'd put Duma out of all of their misery, so she didn't quite agree with that sentiment, but maybe she was just biased. Celica could be intimidating, sure, but there was nothing scary about her at all!

"Noted, Your - Alm," Boey said. "We'll try to keep it in mind."

Alm smiled at them, soft and sweet, and Mae really wished he'd make it easier for her to feel justified in her occasional dislike of him, because actually being in his presence always made her feel like a right heel.

"I actually did come looking for you both for a reason, though," he said. "If you wouldn't mind coming with me?"

Mae did mind, a bit, but she had no real reason to say no that went beyond 'I feel petty dislike and envy for you,' and he was the king, so she clambered to her feet and silently took Boey's hand, nodding at Alm to lead the way.

After about ten minutes of being led through the palace halls in near complete silence, Alm came to a stop before a single wooden door, and pushed it open, gesturing for Mae and Boey to enter before him, which they did.

And there, waiting for them with a smile, was Celica.

She brightened once she saw the two of them, and the room brightened with her, lighting up at her smile. Her eyes flickered to her husband, just behind them, who hadn't entered the room.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" She asked, and with a quiet little smile, Alm shook his head.

"Have fun, you three," he said, and closed the door. His footsteps echoed down the hall, further away, with a sense of finality.

"My lady," Boey was saying as Mae turned back to Celica and tuned into the conversation. "I am sorry if we worried you - "

Celica held up one hand, and Boey fell silent. 

"We can talk about the serious stuff tomorrow," Celica said, and gestured for them to join her by the fire, where, Mae noted, trays of hot chocolate and cream were set up. "For now, for the first time in forever, can we please all just be together?"

There was something pleading in her eyes and voice Mae had never seen before, so she was agreeing and moving to lean her weight against Celica's warmth before she'd even registered it as a question and not a divine edict.

"I've missed you," Mae admitted, as Boey slid to Celica's other side, completing their triangle. "Letters aren't enough."

"No, they aren't, are they?" Celica mused, with a laugh that choked tears. "I've missed you, too - both the two of you and everyone else on Novis." A sigh. "I've missed Novis."

Come back, then, Mae wanted to say, but that's unfair to Celica. It's unfair to Valentia, really.

"Alm has been telling me to just make a trip of it," Celica confided, looping her fingers through Mae's and resting her head on Boey's shoulder. "'Tour the kingdom, take a group. I'll be fine here.' And I want to do it, but then I think about leaving him to run the kingdom alone, and I feel so guilty."

Mae squeezed her hand. "You're only human, Celica," she reminded her. "And if you need a break - "

"I don't want just a break, though," Celica said. "I just want to go home. To Novis."

Mae's heart skipped a beat in her chest. "Then come home," she said. "Whether for a month, a week, a day - " Forever " - come home. Give Genny a hug, clear your head. You don't stop being the Queen just because you've left the capital, Celica." She leant in close, so her hair brushed Celica's cheeks, so she could feel the warmth of Celica's breath, smell the chocolate on it. "You've always been my queen," she confessed.

Red blossomed on Celica's cheeks, and she looked caught between flattered and bashful. "Well," she said. "Well, then."

"So," Boey said. "So. You'll be coming home with us, then?"

"I - yes," Celica said, and smiled - at Boey, at Mae; pure beauty. "At least for a little while, I'll come home."

With a squeal, Mae threw herself on top of the both of them, ignoring Boey's yelps as she knocked over the mugs of hot chocolate.

"I love you," she said, voice muffled  by Celica's hair and Boey's shoulder. So, she lifted her head up from where it rested. "Both of you," she said, clearly. "You're my moon and my sun, and I love you."

Boey laughed, and Celica reached out a gentle hand to stroke her cheek. "And you're our fire, Mae," she said. "Bright and beautiful and warm, and we'd be nothing without you."

"We love you too, you dolt," Boey said.

And then, heedless of the ball that continued without them, even as it missed its Queen, the night devolved into chocolate kisses spent by the fire; a hazy recalling of affection that Mae would cherish forever.


End file.
